President Donald Trump warned that higher tariffs and additional sanctions would be imposed on Russia if Vladimir Putin fails to end the war in Ukraine.
He said on his social media platform, Truth Social, that he was doing Russia and its president “a very big favor” by working to resolve the war.
President Trump previously announced that he would negotiate an agreement in one day regarding Russia’s full-scale invasion that began in February 2022.
Russia has not yet responded to the comments, but senior officials recently said Moscow’s chances of dealing with the new U.S. administration are slim.
Putin has repeatedly said he is ready to negotiate an end to the war that first began in 2014, but that Ukraine must accept the reality of Russian territorial gains, which now amount to about 20 percent of the country. He also refused to allow Ukraine to join NATO, a military alliance of Western countries.
Kiev does not want to give up territory, but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has acknowledged it may have to temporarily cede some of the land it currently occupies.
Trump said at a news conference Tuesday that he would talk to Putin “very soon” and that it “seems likely” he would impose more sanctions if the Russian leader does not come to the table.
But in a Truth Social post the next day, he went further, writing, “I would do Russia and President Putin a huge favor with their failing economy.”
“Solve it now and stop this stupid war! The situation is only going to get worse. If we don’t make a ‘deal’ we will soon have no choice but to impose high levels of taxes, tariffs and sanctions on everything. Russia will join the US and various others. We are selling it to the country.”
He went on to write: “If I had been president, let’s end this war that would never have started! We can do it the easy way or we can do it the hard way. The easy way is always better. Now is the time to ‘make a deal’.”
Kurt Volker, former special representative for Ukraine, said Trump’s threat of sanctions against Russia “sends a signal to President Vladimir Putin that things will get worse, not better.” He added on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We need to encourage President Putin to say, ‘OK, it’s time for a real ceasefire’.”
Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador, Dmitry Poliansky, previously told Reuters the Kremlin needs to know what Trump wants to stop the war before the country moves forward.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the World Economic Forum on Tuesday that at least 200,000 peacekeepers would be needed under any agreement.
And he told Bloomberg that his country’s peacekeeping force should include U.S. troops to provide a realistic deterrent to Russia.
“It can’t happen without the United States… Even if some of our European friends think it can, it won’t,” he said, adding that no one would risk such a move without the United States.
Ukrainian leaders may appreciate Trump’s hard-line rhetoric (they have always said that Putin only understands strength), but Kiev’s initial reaction to the US president’s comments suggests that it is action, not words, that people are waiting for.
President Trump did not specify specifically who or when he would impose more economic sanctions. Russian imports into the U.S. have plummeted since 2022, and all sorts of tough restrictions are already in place.
Currently, Russia’s main exports to the United States are phosphate-based fertilizers and platinum.
Volker told the BBC that the Russian economy could suffer “significant” damage if Trump decides to maintain or strengthen the toughest US sanctions yet. He said the sanctions were only imposed when Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, left office. “Russia didn’t really feel as much pressure as they could have,” he said.
On social media, Ukrainians generally reacted harshly to President Trump’s remarks. Many have suggested that more sanctions would be a weak response to Russian aggression. But the biggest question for most people is what President Putin is actually willing to discuss with Ukraine in peace talks.
Meanwhile, in Moscow, some are seeing signs that the Kremlin is preparing Russians to accept less than the “victory” it once expected. This includes moving the tanks west to the southern Ukrainian port city of Odessa.
The overtly pro-Putin TV editor Margarita Simonyan began talking about ‘realistic’ conditions for ending the war, suggesting that this could include stopping fighting on the current front lines.
This means that four Ukrainian regions, including Zaporizhzhia, which President Putin illegally declared Russian territory more than two years ago, are still partially controlled by Kiev.
Russian hardliners, the so-called “Z” bloggers, are outraged by this “defeatism.”
Former President Trump’s special envoy Volker said in an interview with the BBC, “I am skeptical that the negotiations themselves will take place,” and added, “The top priority for the United States is to stop the fighting and prevent further attacks by President Putin.”
In Wednesday’s social media posts, Trump also couched his threats of tariffs and stricter sanctions in words of “love” for the Russian people and emphasized his admiration for the Soviet Union’s losses in World War II, a topic almost sacred to Putin.
But Trump vastly overestimated that number and seemed to think it was just Russia. In fact, millions of Ukrainians and other Soviet citizens also lost their lives.
That said, the man who previously said Russia’s concerns over Ukraine’s NATO membership were “understandable” – which for Kiev would be tantamount to saying Putin was provocative – appears to be changing his tone.
Trump’s position is important. But after 11 years of war with Russia and a history of poor peace agreements, Ukrainians are not very hopeful.
